


Because I was a Girl

by Sirenwithlegs



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Artificial Insemination, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Discussion of Abortion, F/M, Fighting, Forced Pregnancy, Gotham City - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, One-Sided Tim Drake/Ra's al Ghul, Ra's is a real creeper, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rule 63, Tim Drake Has a Bad Time, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Vigilante, worst thing i've written
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:14:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27182305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sirenwithlegs/pseuds/Sirenwithlegs
Summary: "Detective, have you heard the story of The Pied Pipper before?" Ra's asked Thea, drawing out the sentence slowly."Everyone has," Thea replied trying to sound unbothered. "Hambergs overrun with rats a Piper uses music to get rid of them. The townspeople refuse to pay him and he lures all the children away to get revenge on them.""Very good. You are familiar with it. I gave you resources and manpower to get Batman back from time. It's now time for you to pay what you owe me for the service I provided. It won't take, but a few months and we'll both walk away better for it," Ra's assured her.
Relationships: Tim Drake/Ra's al Ghul
Comments: 3
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WriterfromGotham](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterfromGotham/gifts).



"Detective, have you heard the story of The Pied Pipper before?" Ra's asked Thea, drawing out the sentence slowly.

"Everyone has," Thea replied trying to sound unbothered. "Hambergs overrun with rats a Piper uses music to get rid of them. The townspeople refuse to pay him and he lures all the children away to get revenge on them."

"Very good. You are familiar with it. I gave you resources and manpower to get Batman back from time. It's now time for you to pay what you owe me for the service I provided. It won't take, but a few months and we'll both walk away better for it," Ra's assured her.

"I did promise I would do anything after the Justice League didn't believe me. Let's get started the quicker it's over the sooner I can be home," Thea agreed reluctantly.

"I'm so glad you agree and you don't have to be taught a lesson like people of Hamburg did. I have the plane ready for you." He smiled and Thea hoped the months would fly by if that grin was a sign about anything.

Thea could sense the ninja behind her and let him stick her with a needle. There would be no point in fighting back. She blissfully passed out falling in the waiting arms of the only man who believe she was right. And wasn't that a kick in the head.

* * *

Dr. Patel was a short man, he graduated in the middle of his class at an average medical school with no great aspersions in life. His specialty was women's health and he was happy to be employed by Ra's Al Ghal. He was on retainer for the Demons Head for decades. He was responsible for the health and well being of all Ra's female ninja's and daughter's. It was a good life that had compensated him well throughout his life.

He'd seen all manner and walk of life come through his office. Today was different there was a young teenager completely passed out on the examination table with Ra's beside her lovingly stroking her black hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks.

 **"** What can I do for her?" He asked as got a better look at the girl. She was pretty, fine-boned features, and pale for the desert they were in.

"I need a complete work up on her. Pap smear, fertility, and all other tests. Who knows the last time she had a real exam? I want to know everything about her. She'll be instrumental to me in building my empire for generations to come. I want you to spare no test. You will tell no one of her existence in this compound."

"I'll get to work," Dr. Patel said as got out a needle adapter and tubes. He tied a tourniquet around her arm and felt for a vein. He rubbed alcohol on the perfect spot and to his surprise, Ra's stayed. He didn't leave like he did when it was Nyssa and Talia getting their exams. He eyed him carefully even as he put the gauze on the entry point and taped the spot where he drew her blood.

"Are you going to watch the entire exam?" He asked impatiently.

"I am, do you have a problem with that Dr. Patel?" The Demon's Head asked. "I want to make sure she is treated with the utmost care."

"No problem, I'll put the stirrups up and you can help me undress her." He didn't work with patients that were unconscious very much, but they all had the same problem. The clothes were the worst to get off. This girl had on jeans and a simple tee shirt that had a logo for an American hero on it. He didn't keep up with that sort of thing and didn't know which one it was for. He didn't care.

He got the stirrups out and connected them to the exam table while Ra's unbuttoned her pants and started to shimmy her out of them. His first impression was that she was skinny. Needed at least twenty to fifteen pounds to get the bony look out of her. He set her bare feet in the stirrup when Ra's had finished getting her undressed. He completed the pap smear with the efficiency that came with doing it for years on the most deadly assassins in the world. Ra's insisted that he do a complete workup including an MRI of her entire body. This had never been a request before. The girl was still passed out when he was finally done with all of his exams. It was the most thorough exam he had done in years.

"I recommend a nice vacation for a week and for her to gain some weight so she doesn't look like she just escaped a refuge camp. What's with all the additional testing?" Dr. Patel asked, more than a little interested.

"Considering you're going to be seeing a lot of little Thea, you might as well know. She's the woman that's going to bear my child we made a deal this is her part of it. This will end like nothing like the Damian debacle."

"If she's here willingly, why I did this exam on her naked and passed out?" Dr. Patel asked unbelievingly.

"She has yet to know what her part of the deal is but knows better than to argue. I want her on fertility drugs by this evening. She needs to be pregnant in the shortest time that healthiest for her, of course." Ra's said as he stroked her chin with his long bony finger. "I'm going to build an all-new empire with our child."

* * *

Thea woke up with a bursting headache and feeling like she had been turned inside out and then put back together wrong. Her mouth felt like it was filled with cotton. When she opened her eyes she was greeted with pale pink walls and a lamp that cast a yellow light over everything. She sat up slowly as her head continued to swim. The side table beside her had a glass of water on it that was cold enough to tell her that they knew when she would wake up.

The Pied Piper, Ra's really went with a simple children's story as a threat to kill everyone she ever loved unless she gave him what she wanted. Thea scouted out the rest of the room and found the door was unlocked. She walked out the door in her bare feet trying to piece together what Ra's wanted her for. An older man in a white lab coat was pouring over documents.

"Did you know your iron level is borderline anemic? If you would gain seventeen pounds you'd really be in the pink of health. I started you on a new diet, plenty of whole milk, meat, green leafy vegetables, and all the nuts you care to eat. I'm adding in some vitamins so you'll be up to your new mission. Any questions?"

"Who are you?" Thea asked.

"I'm Dr. Patel, the resident doctor that specializes in women's health for those that work or contract out to Ra's. You are my newest patient I have some questions that I need to ask you now that you're awake. For now, though eat breakfast and I'll answer your questions when you're done," He motioned to the tray that held two hot fried eggs, a glass of milk, a sliced apple, and some sort of meat.

In another time and place, Alfred would have made her a breakfast like this she wouldn't be eating with an old man that sent her creepy vibes off the chart. But, but, this was here and now. Batman was back, but no one believed her. She made deals with so many demons she didn't feel like she could ever be called Robin again. This was the penance for her sin of no backup and being the child the Wayne's never loved. The child soldier that no one told could be disavowed for having a crazy theory or when the next best edition comes in. She deserved whatever was coming to her. She would never be so blindly naive, and blindly loyal ever again. Bruce had taken one look at her and asked who she was.

He knew everyone else she'd made him look at all their pictures and he knew them. How did he forget her when he promised that he would love her forever? Surrounded by assassins, she cried like a child at the man once made her feel like family. Bruce asked to go home so Owen and Z took him to Gotham. She had a day to put herself back together and then she was here eating breakfast with someone who knew that she was almost anemic. She couldn't find it in herself to care.

The food was good and for once she didn't put off eating in favor of finding Bruce. She just didn't care anymore she was going to get her health back on track complete her mission and go someplace else for a change. Gotham didn't need her anymore, the Titan's were mostly dead or drifted apart. Maybe she'd get a job with Ra's permanently. She couldn't find it in herself to care anymore. It didn't seem worth it anymore.

"What's my mission that I have to be 'healthy' for it," Thea asked.

"Ra's wants a child, your child to take over his empire so you're going to get healthy, have a baby and your debt is paid in full. The more you corporate the quicker it will be over. He isn't going to rape you if that's what you're afraid of. Artificial insemination is quite efficient and will be painless for you," Dr. Patel said as he looked her with not pity in his eyes. She didn't know what it was.

"Fine. I'll do whatever you want," Thea replied dispassionately. It's not like she could do anything about it, anyway. She was so lost and had no backup that would come and rescue her. The Wayne family and Gotham weren't where she belonged anymore.

* * *

It took three months before Thea became pregnant.

Artificial insemination was done every month for four days. That was the most uncomfortable she'd ever been in her life. She wouldn't ever forget the smell of disinfectant and how Dr. Patel would draw up the syringe filled with Ra's washed sperm and she'd use every trick she knew to dissociate. Hours maybe days later, she'd be laying down in her bed and the worst would be over for that day.

Ra's didn't come down to her room often, but the day her positive results came back he came to her. Sat on her bed smiling, "Detective, you've done wonderfully. You're pregnant! No more of that distasteful AI, I know how much you dreaded that, dear. That's all over."

Thea smiled too. She was almost free. Wouldn't owe anyone a single thing.

"I promise, I'll take good care of you," he lied. Because anything that sounded good for her was a lie. She took care of herself and when her debt was paid she'd never look back.

She ate whatever he gave her and listened when he told her to rest. Did the light exercises Dr. Patel recommended, read the books she requested be brought to her. It was the opposite of the past year she'd been through. She wasn't almost dying every other night and the servants Ra's had cleared to be near her were in awe of her. They didn't treat her like she was fragile or crazy.

If she wasn't crazy all those months ago, Thea thinks she finally is now. Dick called her crazy for believing that Bruce was alive. He's alive and should be back with his family now. Saving the city he loved more than anyone. She made a deal with the devil to get him back. Bruce wouldn't have done anything as drastic to save her. It's not that she would expect him too. She was the third Robin, replaceable in every way. Otherwise, someone would have come looking for her, noticed she was needing help, and done something.

Thea knew something was wrong the day they got the baby's gender results back. At eighteen weeks pregnant she was told that her baby was, unfortunately, a girl. She was partially naked as Dr. Patel put the ice-cold gel on her still partial flat stomach and then the ultrasound wand.

"We'll have to have you undergo an abortion. It will cost us time in getting real heir, but it can't be helped," Dr. Patel said like he wasn't going to kill Thea's daughter.

"Is that was Ra's has decided?" Thea asked bewildered he never mentioned that she had to give him a male heir.

"Yes, he was informed in real-time and he wants it done as soon as possible," Dr. Patel sighed, "I told him that it could impact your ability to get pregnant again. He doesn't want another mistake, a girl."

"How much is he paying you?" Thea asked wondering at what cost he was bought at.

"300,000 a year," Dr. Patel replied, "I could make more, but I like it here."

"How much would it cost for you to get me, Talia or Nyssa?" Thea asked her mind awhirl with plans and ideas. The baby seemed more real when she was going to be killed for her gender. Sexist old bastard thought she was good enough to have his child as long as they had the right genitalia. For the first time in months she felt something than numb, she was mad. Bruce could forget about her, Dick could call her crazy and throw her out of the family, and Damian replaced her. Men weren't going to use and throw her away anymore.

"25,000 for five minutes."

"Done, get her here ASAP," Thea said as she experimentally rubbed her stomach.

Dr. Patel left her alone as he went to get retrieve Talia. Thea pulled her plain shirt back over her, sighing as she thought about her choices. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to write Thea's headspace as someone who had been hurt and is just numb. I'm going to explore it a little more in the next chapter.

"Drake, what are you doing here?" Talia asked with real surprise in her voice. Thea placed a hand over her stomach sudden burst of maternal instinct saying that she needed to protect her daughter. Talia's eyes roved all over the makeshift bedroom that had been set up right beside the med bay. Thea had a handful of books and crossword puzzles that she was allowed to have. It was mostly sparse with the bed and sheets being utilitarian. The brown walls were nondescript and looked like many of the rooms in the compound. The only clothes she had been given were black and well worn. Talia's face quickly went blank drawing some conclusions of her own.

"Supplying the heir to the League of Assassins unless you help me. Ra's wanted me to have his heir in repayment to lending me aid until he found out that she's a girl. Now he wants me to have an abortion and get pregnant again until I have a boy. I say you help me escape and I help you kill him letting you become the League of Assassins leader. I have no intentions of burning this organization to the ground, even though I could. I needed your organization just as you have needed me. All I want is to be free with my daughter," Thea said with more conviction than she had since she was looking for Bruce.

"I agree to you terms. How do you plan to do it?" Talia replied with a smirk.

"I'm going to refuse to have the abortion, Dr. Patel will alert Ra's no doubt and I'll take them both out then. You will have a plane waiting for me fully fueled and ready to go. I want no one to stop me and if anyone follows I will challenge your right to leadership claiming my daughter as heir. You will find that I am not Bruce and you will not cross me without consequences. It's up to you and Nyssa to destroy the body so thoroughly that no Lazarus pit in this or any world could ever bring him back," Thea said as Talia pulled out a knife hidden in her boot.

"This should work. If you need help killing him then the deal is off," Talia replied not coldheartedly. Thea couldn't fault that line of logic.

"I won't need help. Restraining is a lot harder than killing. I am so sick of being thrown away for being useless, I'm going to use that, Talia. I wish you the best of luck in future endeavors. Don't tell a single Bat what's about to happen you'll find they no longer care. In a way you've helped create another Jason Todd," Thea laughed mirthlessly. Except that wasn't true, Jason was still wanted.

"I'll get the preparations ready. The plane will be in the runway on the east side," Talia said, "Be careful."

"Thanks."

Thea jumped as Dr. Patel opened the door with a creak, "Time is up. Ra's won't be happy if I don't get this done quickly. All this time just wasted." The man sighed, "Hopefully, next time it will be a boy I don't want to keep putting up with delays."

Talia slipped out the door as Dr. Patel dove into more grumbling. Thea sat on her bed and tears came easily, "I can't do this! This isn't what I agreed to." Thea thought of everything that happened that lead up to her being five months pregnant with Ra's al Guls baby. She was done with being thrown away for being useless or crazy. She was just so tired of not being wanted.

"Come now, it will only take a few months and you'll be pregnant again. It's just a girl," Dr Patel said trying to be comforting.

"Let me talk to Ra's! I need to talk to him first! I don't want to do this," Thea said miserably. Channeling the teenage girl that she never was. She had never thrown a fit like this before especially when her parents were still alive. She

"I'll see what I can do. He won't change his mind though, Thea." Dr. Patel replied. He stepped outside the door and Thea took the dagger held it the way Lady Shiva had trained her a lifetime ago. Her base training taking over as she thought over the steps she would have to take to eliminate both Dr. Patel and Ra's. Breathing in a deep breath trying to calm herself and get ready for the run if her life, no their lives. She may have never been wanted or planned, but she was going to going to stop living for other people. Starting today she was living for herself. Not Robin for Bruce and Gotham, not the perfect daughter that lived up to those impossible standards. Not the sister Dick lied and said that she was to him.

Dr. Patel was a softer target than she thought he would be. Red painted the walls of the exam room when she was done with the old man. Thea in all her searching for Bruce had never killed anyone before. Ra's was harder. He was surprised at her attacking him, but he hadn't lived for centuries without being ready for a fight at all times. In the end Thea walked away with more than a few scrapes and blood dripping from her plain clothes that she lived in for the past few months. She drug herself to the plain that was promised to her and only then did she drop the dagger and start the engine. She was going to be free or die trying.

She kept her eyes on the sun heading someplace that wasn't hot all the time like the desert, or cold and foggy. She had enough of that for a lifetime.


End file.
